Elastic-propelled sound-emitting toy vehicle



June 10, 1930. M. ALLAND 1,752,461

LASTIC PROPELLED SOUND EMITTING '.OY VEHICLE Filed April 5, 1929Patented .lune 10, 1930 1U N E o stared n `MAURICE ALLANID, OF ATLANTICCITY, JNEW JERSEY nLAsTro-rnornnnnn soUNn-nivrrmrme TOY VEHICLE`application inea` April 5,

The object of this invention is to provide improvements in toy vehicles,`and, particularly in thattype which isautomatically propolled along `a`surface upon being `released 5 after winding certain elasticmeans bymanually `propelling it in reverse direction upon said surface. i

a i Another object has beento construct a toy of. this character inwhich the movement of the toy when released createsa sound which issimilar to and represents the familiar soundy given oiby an automobilewhentho muffler is cut out, as well as reproducing the familiar sound ofa pneumatic horn, common ly referred to as honk, honk. i

A 'A further ob 'ect`is to so construct the toy that thepropulsion of it`when released is caused bythe unwinding of a rubber band, or similarelement, which at one end is readi ly attached to or` disconnected froma relatively fixed portion of thearticle, whileits `opposite end portionis secured to a hook carried by or forming apart ofthe driving axle, andfrom which said band or the like is readi- 52-5 ly disengageable whendesired, but which Vhook tofall intents `and purposesforms a n0rmallypermanent connection between ,the band andthe axle. Y y f i -Stillanother object is to provide the driving axle with one or morecollars toprevent the :elastic `or the like from 4entering andentangling withthebearings of said axle, `a collar comprising 4a toothed gear `orratchet which -is engagedlfby a resilient member see5 cured atitsopposite end to the body ofthe vehicle, so thatvibrations set up insaid meme ber through-rotation of said `toothed ,collar arecommunicatedto said body andthereby amplified so as to createan easily audiblevibratory: sound.

With these and other objects in mind the `present invention comprisesfurther details of construction and operation which are fully broughtout inthe following description when read in conjunction `with theaccompanying drawings in which Fig.`1 is a longitudinal vertical sectionof a toy vehicle comprising one embodimentlof the invention and Fig. 2is a bottom plan view of the same.

Referring to the drawings, a vehicle is ilu 1,929. serial No. 352,722.

lustrated as `representing; any well-known' type of automobile, butmay-instead represent any other form of vehicle desired. Being a toy, itis preferably made in the form of a shell, substantially as shown inFigs. l and 2, said shell comprising a top wall 1 which has a forward`wall 2 andoppositely positioned side wallsB. a Rotatably mounted uponthe `outer side of each of the side walls `and the forward portionthereof is a wheel 4, sur 6 rounded? bya tire 5, in order to preventthese forward wheels from skidding laterally `as thevehicleis propelledrapidly forward over a g given surface. y y

Extending forwardly from the lower portion ofthe forward wall 2 is a lug6, representing' the `well-known connection provided for attachment of acrank, which in `a genuine automobile serves the purpose of manuallystartingthe engine when such is nec 70 essary. "This lug` may comprisethe head of a screw or pin, the opposite end of which extends inwardlythroughthe front wall and provides ,a hook 7 adapted to normally anddetachably `receive one looped end portion of a rubber band or othersuitable form of elastic 8, the opposite end of which elasticdetachablyengages a hook 9, which is formed in any suitable manner as byunder-cutting one side `ofthe central portion ofthe combined rear `axleand driving-shaft 10, andthus provides a hook which extends parallelwith, and `preferablyrof no greaterthiclrness than, the diameter of saidshaft.

Said driving shaft extends rotatably si throughthe side walls 3 of thevehicle and uponits outer ends supports driving wheels 11, provided withtires 12 for frictionally engaging a given surface and insuring thetractive effort ofthe driving wheels with respect` to said surface.

It has been found through extensive experi ments that as the drivingwheels are rotated `in a reversedirectionin any suitable manner, as forinstance by `manually gripping the vehicle and moving it rearwardlywithtbe driving `wheel tires in Contact with a given surface, .theelastic 8, if `other than flat and broad, inwinding upon' the shaft l0tends to Wind toward one end or the other of said 10c shaft, and mayenter the journal supports of the same were it not for one or morecollars carried by said shaft.

In the present embodiment of the invention such collars may be securedto the shaft between the hook 9 and the vehicle walls 3, one of saidcollars (not shown) being a mere flange or washer (when actuallyprovided) while the other of said collars 13 is notched to provide theequivalent of a ratchet or gear, having peripheral teeth which areyieldingly engaged by the free end portion of a resilient member 14, theopposite transversely enlarged end portion 15 of which is normallysecured rigidly to the upper wall 1 or any suitableV portion lof thevehicle body by means of a rivet, bolt, screw, or any other desired formof connection 16. v j In addition to providing for one given sound bytheengagementv of the spring 14 with the teeth 13, a pneumatic whistle17 of any suitable construction is provided, said whistle being soundedby the sudden compression of an elastic, normally distended rubber bulb18, against which intermittently presses a relatively broad linger 19,which at its Vopposite end is pivotally connected at 20 to any suitablelportion of the relatively xed vehicle body, such as the rear portion21. A radial projection 22 carried by the collar 13 intermittentlyengages the finger 19 asthe shaft 10 rotates and thereby causes the bulb18 to suddenly expel air and sound the whistle 17.

In the operation of the device, as previously referred to, the vehiclebody is manually gripped and placed Aupon and with the driving wheeltires12'in contact with a given surface, whereupon the vehicle is movedin a direction which is the opposite to that which it is intended totake when released and subsequently moving. under its own power. Asthevehicle is thus moved manually, the elastic 8 winds upon the drivingshaft 10 as far .as may be desired, or as far as may be safe within thelimit of elasticity of suchelastic,

after which the vehicle body can be released and the tension of suchelastic will operate to reversely rotate said driving shaft and propelthe vehicle along thel surface upon which it rests. T

kAs thevehicle is propelled rapidly forwardly underthe power of thecontracting elastic 8 the rapid frictional engagement of the resilientmember 14 with the notched or toothed collar 13 creates an intermittentsound, which is conveyed to the upper wall 1 of the vehicle body, whichacts as a sound board. By `modifying the shape, sizeand resiliency ofthe member 14, the number and shape of the notches on .the collar 13,the method of attachment of the member 14 to the body wall 1,and byvarying the material ofthe vehicle walls themselves, a wide range Vofaudible sounds may be produced, including among others the well-knownsound created by an automobile when running with the mufiler cut out.lTVhile this self-propelled movement of the vehicle is taking place, theshaft also rotates the projection 22, which upon engaging the finger 19compresses the bulb 18 and sounds the whistle 17, thus simulating thetoot, toot or honk, honk of Vwell-known types of audible automobilesignals.

lt is also to be noted that by extending the hook 9 parallel with theshaft 10, when the elastic 8 has becomefully unwound from said shaft andthe momentum of the vehicle starts to wind said elastic reversely, thereis no danger of the elastic jumping from said hook as was found to bethe case when a hook is employed having a direction other than parallelwith said shaft. Furthermore, it has been found that when operating thedevice upon an inclined surface, it will propel itself in the mannerdescribed either upwardly or downwardly of such surface, but whether upor down, when the power of the elastic is spent, said elastic serves ineffect as a brake,

and prevents the device from moving downwardly under the force ofgravity, until manually so movedv or raised freely from said surface.

Having thus describedi my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A toy vehicle, comprising abody having a lug and providing spaced journals, a driving axleextending through said journals andcut to provide a longitudinallyextending` hook, which does not increase the effective diameter of theaxle, anelastic detachably connected to and extending between said lugand said hook, a toothed collar carried by said axle, and a resilientmember at one end engaging said collar and secured at its other end tosaid body to produce a typical automobile sound as the vehicle is drivenby the unwinding of said elastic.

2. A toyvehicle, comprising a body having a lug and providing spacedjournals, a driving axle extending through said journals andtransversely and longitudinally undercut 4Ato provide a hook whichextends parallel with and as an integral part of said axle, an elasticdetachably connected to and extending between said lug and said hook, atoothed collar carried by said axle, and a resilient member secured atone end to said body and its free end engaging the teeth of said collarto produce a given sound asV the vehicle is propelled under the power ofsaid elastic rotating said shaft.

3. A toy vehicle, comprising a hollow body, a rotatable axle carried bysaid body and so cut as to provide a hook extending parallel withitsaxis, an elastic extending between a iixel portion ofy said body andsaid hook, adapted to be wound upon said axle and in lill unwincling torotate said axle, a toothed collar carried by said axle, a resilientmember secured to said body and engaging said collar to create a soundWhile said axle revolves, a pneumatic signal, a collapsible bulbtherefor, a finger pivotally supported at one end by said body, and aprojection carried by said axle and engageable With said linger tointermit tently collapse said bulb and sound said signal While saidlirst sound is substantially continuous.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

MAURICE ALLAND.

